When the marriage of my son was getting delayed for several years in spite of persistent efforts through friends, newspaper insertions and e-matrimony entries, we were advised by a few friends that there could be chevvai dosham in his horoscope. That was the first time I realised the importance of a document. One fine morning we discovered his jatakam and took it to a learned astrologer living in a suburb.
That it was very difficult to get an appointment with him is another big story. When the day arrived to meet him I was under pressure from my better half to take her with me, first to get a glimpse of the man who knew the past, present and future and to ask important questions which I might leave out — my son’s fortune, foreign trip, children and above all, if he would be loyal to his parents in their ripe age.
We went into his room filled with books on all sides, a big table with a lot more old crumbled books and almanacs several decades old. Pictures of gods and goddesses and the smell of incense added to the serenity and suspense. On being showed my son’s horoscope, the lecture on chevvai bhagawan started.
I was told, Chevvai (Mars) helps to gain confidence and boldness. “He can cause problems, difficulties and petty fights between the couple if the horoscopes are not matched. He needs good planets as friends or at least has to be looked at by them. His harm will be much greater when he is associated with Paapa Grahams (evil planets) or when seen by them.” I could not guess what ‘see’ meant in this context. “What is Chevvai Dosham?” I asked him like a small wonder-struck boy. “If Chevvai (Mars) is found in 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 and 12th houses from Lagnam-Chandran-Suryan in the rasi chart of the horoscope, one can be sure that there is Chevvai Dosham.”
“Its presence in the second house has got to do with health and happiness of either of the couple. The Seventh House implies sure impact on unity, cooperation, conduct and character and even intimacy of the couple. Chevvai in the eighth house is not at all favourable for aspects like longevity of married life, life-span of the husband or wife.” The pandit started talking about Guru/Brihaspati or Jupiter — his friends, enemies and good and bad houses.
We had unwittingly taken a lot of time for our astrology classes, I felt. He asked us to come another day with a bunch of horoscopes of girls for matching them with that of my son. He warned the selection has to be careful and the choice an enlightened one. We left the place with a heavy heart. At night, we were unable to sleep. My son entered our room and talked about his colleague at office. Long story short we had no option but to agree on the girl. The stars and planets are still in motion and as for the astrologer, we decided that one study class was good enough.